Paul, thanks for the Times of Israel report. It claims to be based on a report from “Channel 12 news”, but also references this ABC report:
The ABC report of 9 April is by Josh Margolin and James Gordon Meek. It claims four sources which it does not name, but they themselves are secondary, they were merely “briefed”:
– “As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business and posing a threat to the population, according to four sources briefed on the secret reporting.
– Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military’s National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document’s contents.
– The report was the result of analysis of wire and computer intercepts, coupled with satellite images. It raised alarms because an out-of-control disease would pose a serious threat to U.S. forces in Asia — forces that depend on the NCMI’s work.”
This doesn’t ring true to me. The changes claimed, “sweeping through China’s Wuhan region, changing the patterns of life and business”, and one of the methods of detection, “satellite images”, suggest an outbreak so big that the Chinese government would not have permitted travel for the Chinese New Year. We have seen how fast covid-19 spreads in multiple countries. Had China not imposed lockdowns, by January the outbreak would have been much bigger than it was.
What I would like to know is, who briefed the “four sources”? Because I’d like to know in whose interest it is to start this rumour.
Also Paul, you should note that this rumour started in what you call the “MSM”. We don’t have a whistleblower or any leaked documents here. We don’t even have a primary source, and it contradicts what we know about the rate that covid-19 spreads.
